It Came in the Mail
There seems to be a direct inverse correlation between the effort put into swag promoting movies and the quality of the films themselves. The National Treasure board game looks amazing, especially the spinner with a 3D pyramid capstone and eye of providence as the arrow. But the proof is in the playing, and my wife and I quickly ran through the trivia cards before collecting the four "monuments" required to win—and that was with just the two of us playing. Even worse than having to answer the same things twice was the nature of half of the questions. It's all well and good to learn that Thomas Jefferson was not a Mason but Benjamin Franklin was, but do I really need to be quizzed on what was director Jon Turteltaub's first Disney movie? I've been trying to forget The Kid for nearly five years now. (And no, I'm not bitter just because my wife was in the lead.)
Vienna or Vixens?
This weekend offers classical music fans a concert dilemma: the Las Vegas Philharmonic plays its second subscription concert, "Memories of Vienna," and Bond, a string quartet of "beautiful babes ... sex appeal and sensational music" [from their press release] play the House of Blues.
How do you decide which to attend? John Clare compiled this list of factors:
LV PHIL: Classical music
BOND: Crossover/pop
LV PHIL: Beverages in the lobby
BOND: Beverages during the concert
LV PHIL: Memories of Vienna
BOND: Vixens
LV PHIL: Hunks (Conductor Weller, Soloists Caplan, Bernatis and Foster)
BOND: Babes
LV PHIL: Take your loved one
BOND: Take the gang
LV PHIL: Beethoven
BOND: Beat often?
LV PHIL: 85 Local musicians
BOND: 4 visiting musicians
LV PHIL: Tickets $25-$66
BOND: Tickets $20-$27
Who said there's nothing classical or cultural to do in Sin City? (or culturally sinful at the same time?!)
John Clare is classical program manager at Nevada Public Radio.
LOCAL CD
Brian Evans (1 star)
The Las Vegas Special Editon
Let me preface by saying I'm a huge fan of lounge music. In college, I was a member of the cocktail nation, and interviewing Tony Bennett was a highlight of my life. That said, this 21-track album is terrible. Evans' heart is in the right place, but his soul rarely makes an appearance, except in his original material. His version of "Jump" is interesting, but overall, he lacks the emotion needed to make his vocals do more than hop and skip.
TOP 10 CD SALES
Las Vegas
1. Eminem,
Encore
2. Fabolous,
Real Talk
3. Ja Rule,
R.U.L.E.
4. Britney Spears,
Greatest Hits: My Prerogative
5. Green Day,
American Idiot
6. Various artists,
NOW 17
7. Shania Twain,
Greatest Hits
8. A Perfect Circle,
eMOTIVe
9. New Edition,
One Love
10. Jay-Z & R. Kelly,
Unfinished Business
As reported by Tower Records
San Diego
1. Pinback,
Summer in Abaddon
2. A Perfect Circle,
eMOTIVe
3. Elliott Smith,
From a Basement on the Hi ll
4. Jimmy Eat World,
Futures
5. Strung Out,
Exile in Oblivion
6. Green Day,
American Idiot
7. Interpol,
Antics
8. Mos Def,
The New Danger
9. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
10. Social Distortion,
Sex, Love and Rock & Roll
As reported by Lou's Records
DVDs
The Iron Giant (PG)
Special Edition (4 stars)
$19.96
Anyone who came away from The Incredibles wanting to extend the experience need look no further. Brad Bird's no-frills adaptation of the Ted Hughes novella tells the story of a young boy who befriends a giant metal-eating robot. Because the film is set in the Cold War, the Iron Giant's sudden presence—and all the hysteria it prompted—can be interpreted as a commentary on the Red Scare. Or not.
The Andy Griffith Show (NR)
The Complete First Season (3 stars)
$38.99
Forty-four years after The Andy Griffith Show first aired, how many baby boomers still solve dilemmas by asking, "What would Andy Taylor do?" Andy's Mayberry seemed to exist a million miles away from Watts, the Haight-Ashbury and Saigon, and worst-case scenarios were limited to Opie's report cards and Barney locking himself out of his police car. This boxed set contains the show's first 32 of 249 episodes but not much in the way of extras.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (R)
(3 stars)
$19.94
First released in 1969, Paul Mazursky's comedy remains a highly entertaining commentary on male-female relations among trendy Californians in the early years of America's sexual revolution. The fun begins after Bob and Carol (Robert Culp, Natalie Wood) attend a retreat, where they're introduced to open marriages and guiltless sex. Their efforts to convert their more uptight friends, Ted and Alice (Elliott Gould, Dyan Cannon), result in a comically inept attempt at unburdened hedonism.